Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Some of you guys really have me worried about this whole cricket thing. Some say NO CRICKETS some say SOMETIMES CRICKETS. I have always given my gex mainly crickets and have had no problems. However, due to my relative inexperience, I have no idea whether this is a severe problem or not. I'm asking for a vote to see how many Leo owners/breeders use crix and how many do not. Simply respond to this post with "crix" or "no crix" along with any added info you feel may be of assistance.

P.S. Here is a pic of Butch (hypo tang) and Lucretia (tremper albino)

i use crix about once a month and all my gecko's eat mealies and prefer them to crix

When I got my first leopard gecko, all I knew of was crickets ! After exspanding my collection to around 15 geckos, going to the pet store to get crickets was exspensive ! Crickets and cary parasites which mealworms almost never do ! Crickets usually smell if you have alot, plus they make noise ! Mealworms dont smell, dont get out of cages, usually dont have parasites, and dont make noise !Just my opinion !

I hope I helped,
Nick
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Titanic Geckos

My Geks Pics

Email Me

AIM : LilWoadie2790 ( im always interested to talk to other herpers !)

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Titanic Geckos

My Geks Pics

Email Me

AIM : LilWoadie2790 ( im always interested to talk to other herpers !)

no crix

have always fed meal worms
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1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko (Melvin)
1.0 Black Lab / Pitbull mix (Mikey)
1.0 Blue Fighting Fish (Blue Balls)

You can use crickets. The main thing you need to stay ontop of is keeping their feed free from mold!

.
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Steven
Royal Gold Reptiles
Offspring available now from LV Patternless Albino stock for '03 and '04.
Working towards Bell Patternless Albinos for '05.

I have mealies available at all times. I put crickets in with only some of my Leos, some of my Leos won't eat crickets so I don't put any in with them. I feed one or two waxworms per Leo per week for a treat. It's been a wonderful bonding experience as I've been hand feeding and now my Leos seem a lot more excited to see me. Makes me feel a little guilty on the non wax worm days when they come up and stare at me with those big eyes wondering why I'm not getting them their treats. I wish there was something more healthy that they'd like just as much for a treat and some variety. I might try superworms now that they are getting bigger. I've seen silkworms and butterworms for sale but don't know how they are for adding variety.

As for crickets being stinky and noisy, I buy the smaller ones that don't make noise, and if you put them in a large tub and clean it at least once a week there really is no smell. If they are in too small of a container or are overcrowded or if you don't ever clean the container, then yes they will smell.

I will admit I am afraid of crickets right now after the recent postings. I buy mine from the pet store and know there is no mold in the tubs there, but don't know about the conditions where they were before the store. There is no mold in my cricket tubs that I've ever seen. I use that calcium enriched yellow cricket jell for watering the crickets.

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www.LynsLair.com
3.6 Leopard Geckos
(Simba, Firenze, Scooter, Mystique, Nala, Melina, Buttercup, Sunshine, Jellybean)
1.0 Carpet Python
(Bear)
5.1 Ferrets
(Wolf, Shadow, Roland, Verdell, Boo, Sullivan)
0.1 Cat
(Mia)

Of course i only feed waxworms every now and then, maybe once every 2 weeks. I stopped using crickets after my first male gecko, Leo, died for no apparent reason. All of the fecal tests came back normal, the vet gave me meds that didn't do a thing. It was exactly like what was described in one of the posts about the bad crickets. I didn't think that they could be the cause but after finding that Boo liked mealworms, i never went back. I did have to give my newest male Bronx a few cause he wouldn't look at the mealworms, but after a while of putting them in his tank every day i noticed they were gone. Now he sits half in his dish every night waiting for them.

I will never use crickets again. My guys all like the variety i give them alternating butterworms and mealworms.

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)
2.0 bettas

I like to give my gecko's as much variety as possible. Mealies daily, crickets everyday or every other day, a few waxworms about once a week or so as a treat, etc. If they enjoy eating crickts as mine do, then I see no reason why they should not be offered them. I raise my own crix. I keep them very clean and well fed and have never had any issues.

That is just my preference though. Either is fine. For the past 8 years that I have been breeding leos, my colony and offspring have rarely been fed crix.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

My geckos have done fine on a primarily cricket diet (dusted of course). Some people don't like all the chirping, but you can order bulk crickets when they're young and avoid the noise. Plus, crickets are better exercise than worms
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3.5.1 leopard geckos
0.1.0 leopard tortoise
0.1.0 asian leaf turtle
1.0.0 ball python
0.1.0 adopted cat
0.1.0 hamster

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